Mobile Clinic in the “Desert”

By : Ali Obaidat

PRCS’ Mobile Clinic covers kilometer after kilometer of the West Bank desert in order to reach beneficiaries in areas that are remote, marginalized or underprivileged whether by choice or because of occupation measures. Every Thursday since June 2011, the mobile clinic, which comprises a doctor and a nurse leaves Ramallah (central West Bank) and heads to the Northern Aghwar Governorate (Northern Jordan Valley), driving for tens of kilometers to reach underprivileged Bedouin communities where many homes are mere shacks or tents, whose dwellers own nothing but their cattle.

From village to village and from home to home along the main road in the Northern Aghwar, the clinic spends around one hour in each Bedouin community –some of which are at least 20 kilometers away from the nearest health clinic- where it provides medical services and distributes medicine to those in need. Men, women, children and elderly persons sit patiently in a waiting tent before entering the clinic itself where they will receive medical services, consult the doctor and obtain their medicine before they head back home.

According to Dr. Anwar Dweikat, Director of the Primary Health Care Program at PRCS, “PRCS started operating its mobile clinic in the Northern Aghwar Governorate in June 2011 following a Needs Assessment by PRCS through its Disaster Management Unit. The assessment revealed an urgent need for health services for populations who cannot easily access clinics due to the blockade imposed by occupation authorities. The clinic provides general medical services and distributes free-of-charge medicine to those in need”.